


Stewing Over Nothing

by Vanui, Woofemus



Category: Tales of Series, Tales of Zestiria
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 06:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13476096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanui/pseuds/Vanui, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woofemus/pseuds/Woofemus
Summary: Alisha wants to welcome Rose home with a gift.





	Stewing Over Nothing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rosenkrone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosenkrone/gifts).



> five months late is better than not posting it up right whoop

The letter came in the middle of the week, when Alisha was already on the verge of leaving her mansion to head for the barracks.

“Leave it on my desk,” she shouted to the maid over her shoulder, hurrying away without even waiting for a response. There was so much work for her to do that she no longer had any second to spare for that morning. Time was precious, and she intended to use all of hers as efficiently as possible.

Who had sent it though? There weren’t very many people she could think of that would want to send _her_ a letter. If it was business for her, it would be waiting at her office in the barracks instead. So… a personal letter then? But from… _who_?

She arrived at the barracks with a pair of knights already running to meet up, reporting in on the recent banditry problem outside of Ladylake. All inquiries about the letter slipped from her mind as Alisha focused on the day ahead of her.

By the time Alisha finally got back home, it was already late into the night. Her body ached, from sitting in one position for far too long, and she longed for nothing more than to sink into the soft covers of her bed and sleep the night away.

She prepared for bed and settled in, resting against her headrest as she reached for her book on the table by the bedside. Just a few pages, and then she’d go to sleep. Her fingers touched the familiar leather of the cover before touching something completely different.

Alisha turned to her table, confused. The letter on top of her book caused nothing to come to her mind still, until she recalled the events earlier in the morning.

“Oh!” She swiped the letter and held it up in front of her, turning it all around. There was only one thing written on the envelope, a scrawl of her name.

Alisha recognized this handwriting.

Now wide awake, Alisha tore open the envelope, hardly unable to contain her excitement as she took out the contents inside.

Her hand revealed only a single folded sheet of paper. A rather… small sheet of paper. A sheet of paper that didn’t even match the size of half the envelope it came in. Unfolding it revealed that the full length wasn’t much better.

After a moment of stunned silence, she quietly said to herself, “…Well, a single sheet is better than no sheet… right?”

Wasn’t the important thing that she had received a letter at all? And perhaps the quality of the letter itself would more than make up for the lack of quantity.

There was only one way to find out.

She began to read.

_Hey Princess! Normally I’d just show up in your bedroom and surprise you with my charming and irresistible—_

The rest of the sentence dissolved into an indecipherable line that veered off the edge of the paper.

Alisha raised a confused eyebrow in reaction.

_Okay so Edna just smacked me with her umbrella and Lailah is threatening to set this draft on fire too, so I’m just gonna skip to the main point before she wastes another sheet of this nice parchment paper and scorches my pen._

_So here it is: I’m gonna swing by Ladylake soon, probably a week after you get this letter. I just wrapped up some important business that I’ve been taking care of these past few months and this whole time I’ve been dying to—_

The rest of the sentence was fiercely scratched out.

Alisha frowned in slight concern.

_Anyways, since Mikleo just RUDELY stole my pen and censored me, I’ll wrap this up and let all of us go about the rest of our day._

_Sorry I didn’t contact you for four months. I missed you._

_-Rose_

_P.S. ^ She is an idiot_

_P.P.S. No you guys are idiots for making me waste paper on something unnecessary_

_P.P.P.S. You’re lucky Alisha probably wants you back in one piece and not several bloody bits—_

The rest of that sentence veered off the edge of the sheet much like the earlier line.

Okay, so maybe there hadn’t been much quality waiting for her inside the letter. But she supposed that Rose wouldn’t be Rose if her message wasn’t short and to the point, and the seraphim weren’t trying to make sure she behaved. The important takeaway here was that everyone seemed alive and well at the very least.

There was that, and the fact that Rose admitted she missed her.

Alisha slowly leaned back, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. The last time she’d seen Rose was indeed four months ago, a time that felt longer than it should have. It hadn’t helped that Rose wasn’t someone who wrote letters, and there were moments where Alisha tried not to let her imagination get the worst of her when she thought about the lack of contact. Rose could take care of herself, and she had the seraphim with her. Nothing bad had happened, or else she would hear of it, Alisha convinced herself.

But, now, she had a letter, from Rose, in her hands, and she was even nice enough to announce when she’d be back instead of sneaking in like she always did. Who would have thought Rose would be considerate like that? True, the seraphim probably had a hand in the matter, but Rose could certainly be stubborn if she really didn’t want to do something.

Which meant a part of her genuinely had wanted to write, Alisha believed.

She looked back down at the letter, reading through it again. Her heart warmed at the thought of Rose hunched over a desk at an inn, scribbling out this letter, just for her, with the seraphim by her side. With a fond smile, Alisha slipped the letter back into the envelope and carefully placed it back atop her desk.

Alisha laid down on her pillow, but sleep was the furthest thing from her mind.

A week.

Alisha had one week to prepare.

–

A part of her couldn’t wait for the week to pass. Impatient as she was though, a week was nothing compared to the past four months of waiting.

Another part of her, however, feared that a week wouldn’t be enough to properly prepare something special enough for Rose’s return.

She knew that while preparing something nice for her lover wasn’t a requirement in their relationship, she desperately wanted to be the one to surprise Rose for once. Normally, she didn’t have enough warning to attempt anything, but now was the perfect chance to try and show Rose that she appreciated her.

But what exactly could she do for Rose?

Before, it was always Rose showing up unannounced with little gifts in tow, a trinket or book from her travels that she thought Alisha might like. Anything Alisha tried to give her afterwards only seemed like she was trying to return the favor instead of showing her own true affection.

Not that Rose herself needed trinkets or books either. As the leader of the Sparrowfeathers, she had access to any item she really needed, and as the Shepherd, she didn’t really have the luxury of carrying whatever she wanted during her travels.

One time, Alisha had tried to gift something unique and useful, something that Rose couldn’t get herself, and something she could easily bring with her. However, Rose had taken a single look at the custom made Shepherd’s cloak Alisha had ordered and walked right back out the door she came through. Then, Rose tried to have Lailah secretly torch the cloak into ashes, but luckily Alisha overheard the conversation and made them sit down and discuss the issue like the adults they were.

Judging by that experience, though… perhaps simply gifting an item was not the route to take here.

But what else could she do?

–

Despite the vast number of books she’d read in her lifetime and hours of thinking, she could not come up with a single good idea by dinnertime the next day. She needed something heartfelt, something sincere, something appropriately romantic but not overly so…

No matter how hard she racked her brains, she couldn’t come up with anything that met all the requirements. It didn’t help that she had meetings all day and then skipped lunch, and the growling in her stomach was proving to a difficult distraction to overcome.

Thankfully, dinner was about to be served.

Despite how busy she always was, Alisha felt it only proper to take as many meals as she could at the dinner table, and that involved being catered to with silver platters and a couple of maids waiting on hand. Not that Alisha herself preferred such lavish treatment, but her maids insisted on it and even seemed to enjoy the formalities of the whole process so she went along with it.

Which is why, when one of the maids brought a tray of food to the table and hesitated before setting it down, Alisha noticed something was wrong.

With how seriously they took their catering jobs, Alisha had never seen them hesitate before. A small breach in protocol, yes, but a breach nonetheless and that in and of itself was strange. It was probably not worth prying into, but curiosity got the better of her.

“Anne,” she called out, ignoring the enticing aroma of the food. “Is something wrong?”

The maid in question stared blankly at her, then jumped as the maid next to her elbowed her to attention. Realizing that Alisha was looking at her, she turned white as a sheet. “W-Wrong?” she squeaked out, clutching at her apron.

Now that wasn’t the reaction she was expecting. Alisha blinked at her, confused as to why the maid was acting so strangely.

“Oh, Anne, there’s no need to be so nervous,” the elbowing maid spoke up.

Anne, if it was even possible, turned whiter in response.

“Er, okay, nevermind. Listen, Milady, she was just concerned for you and didn’t quite know how to bring the topic up,” the other maid explained with a heavy sigh. “Oh. There she goes.”

Alisha hurriedly caught the fainting Anne before she collapsed onto the floor. Alarmed, she turned to the other maid who calmly picked Anne up and waved a new maid over to carry the fainted girl away.

Still blinking in confusion, Alisha stood there with her empty arms outstretched.

“Don’t worry, Anne’s always had trouble with being nervous. You’ve done nothing wrong to her,” the calm maid explained further, slowly guiding Alisha’s arms back down. “But, well, I do understand her concern. You’ve been distracted all day, Milady.”

“I have?” Alisha echoed back.

The maid patted her on the shoulder and gestured for her to sit back down. Alisha stiffly obliged.

“Yes, you’ve been so deep in thought that the politicians you met with earlier began to gossip about your airheadedness as soon as they left the meeting room.”

Alisha continued to blink in response.

The maid frowned. “I suppose that politicians gossiping about Milady is not any different than usual. Okay. Well then, I didn’t want to tell you this, but that’s not actually Anne who fainted. Her name is Sofia.”

“Ah.”

“I’m Anne.”

“Oh.”

“I wasn’t lying about her nerves getting the better of her, though. Sofia doesn’t do well under pressure. Poor girl probably wanted to tell you that you addressed her incorrectly but was too scared to do so.”

“I should go apologize,” Alisha winced, rushing to stand.

The real Anne quickly held her lady down by the shoulders. Then she snatched up a fork, put the silverware into her lady’s hand and pointed at the delicious meal still waiting on the table. “I’m sure she’s alright, Milady. In fact, I’m certain Sofia would much rather you put some food into your stomach and calm down and tell me what has you so distracted.”

“But—”

“No ‘but’s!”

Alisha almost opened her mouth to keep protesting, but the smell of the food wafting over her senses proved too much for her. The growling in her stomach also wasn’t helping. “…Alright,” she finally conceded, moving her chair in and settling over her plate. “Thank you, Anne.”

The maid shook her head. “It is my pleasure, Milady,” she smiled. “Now tell me what’s been on your mind.”

It took all of Alisha’s self-control not to shovel dinner into her mouth and at least try and savor how good the meal was. In between moderate sized bites of food, she explained her dilemma over finding Rose a worthwhile surprise for her return.

Once she finished detailing the reasons behind why every single one of her ideas so far was flawed did she realize she’d finished eating and felt relaxed for the first time that day. The relief she felt must have showed on her face because Anne smiled at her when she began to pick up the empty plates.

“I’m sorry I don’t have any good ideas for Milady,” she said as she expertly balanced plates in one hand. “But I’m sure that whatever you finally decide to do, the Shepherd will appreciate greatly.”

Alisha hummed uneasily at that. Even though she knew that Rose in all likelihood would at least try and pretend to like anything Alisha did for her, what she really wanted was for Rose to genuinely enjoy the surprise. But that was something she could still figure out later. For now she said, “Thank you for your kind words, Anne. And also for listening to me ramble. I really am grateful for your attention.”

Anne bowed her head. “Milady, I am always more than happy to lend an open ear.” She paused for a moment, then grinned. “Besides, how else am I supposed to stay up to date on the epic romance between the beloved Knight Princess of Hyland and the Shepherd?”

Heat rushing up to her ears, Alisha gaped wordlessly at the smug maid, trying and failing to come up with an appropriate response.

“In all seriousness,” Anne continued with a softer smile, “I am glad that Milady finally had a decent meal today. I find that a decent meal makes all the difference for clearing one’s mind and refreshing one’s spirit after a long day. So thank you for listening to me and eating when I made you do so.”

Without waiting for Alisha to respond, the maid bowed, somehow still keeping the stack of plates balanced, and walked out the dining room.

Alisha stared after her and wondered what she’d done to deserve such wonderful maids.

Then she had an idea.

–

“I wish to cook a meal,” Alisha said, with all the conviction in her voice that told the maids that she wasn’t going to be swayed, not now, not ever. The maids all shuffled nervously as they looked at one another.

“Are you _sure_ , Milady?” one of them asked.

“Of course.” Alisha had never been sure of anything else in her life.

“You can try for something… simpler,” another maid suggested.

Alisha was confused. Cooking seemed like the simplest thing she could do. What was supposed to be… simpler than _cooking_? She didn’t know what they were talking about.

“I think it’ll be nice,” Alisha said as she turned toward the kitchen, unaware of the alarm spreading through her maids. “I admit that my patience and skills for cooking are not the best–”

A maid coughed but was quickly hushed.

“–but I think it would be a nice gesture.” Alisha turned back to the maids standing behind her, eyes shining with a rare excitement that the maids hadn’t seen in a long time. Slowly, they all began to realize exactly how serious their lady was, how much she wanted to do this.

Who were they to deter their lady from what she wanted to do?

They all bowed their heads to their princess, now united in their goal, to ensure Princess Alisha’s plan would go off without a hitch.

And to save their mansion from potentially catching fire.

–

Cooking was easier said than done.

Or, rather, finding the _time_ to cook was proving to be the harder task.

While it was nice to know when Rose would be coming back, it didn’t mean that Alisha could forsake all her planned duties and frolic away with her lover (no matter how much she longed to do just that.) If anything, Rose was coming back at a terrible time, when Alisha’s schedule seemed busier than ever.

Rose was always one for good timing, Alisha thought with a forlorn sigh.

As it was, the only times Alisha could even attempt to practice her cooking was very early in the morning, much earlier than before the sun rose, or dreadfully late at night, when Alisha would have gone through a day’s worth of burdens. The lesser of two evils was waking early in the morn, Alisha decided. Better to tackle her task at hand with a fresh mind than one weighed down with fatigue.

And Alisha did so, asking one of the night maids to wake her even earlier in the morning. No matter how tired she felt, no matter how much she wanted to close her eyes and grab more precious sleep before her long day began, Alisha was now committed to her plan, and she would see it through no matter what.

… of course, like many things, that was easier said than done. The maids, bless their patience, taught her many things about the kitchen she would have never even considered. One thing being, that if Alisha wanted to chop ingredients, she had to use a kitchen knife and _not_ her spear.

She tried to argue, “But I’m much better with my spear than a knife–”

“Milady, _please_ ,” a maid said as she scurried out of the kitchen, spear in hand. Alisha sighed, but didn’t argue the point further. Her maids were the ones who knew what was best in the kitchen, and she was already asking so much from them.  

Alright. No spear. Alisha would learn how to wield a kitchen knife instead.

“Milady, you’re… chopping the ingredients too… big,” a maid, Marie, told her. Alisha blinked, looking down at the chopping board.

She turned back to the maid, smiling apologetically. “Forgive me, I… don’t know what should be the proper size when cutting up ingredients.”

“It all depends on the type of dish you’re making, but, um, small and bite-sized, would be a good… size to aim for,” Marie answered.

“Bite-sized?” Alisha picked up one of the pieces of carrots she’d been cutting. She had chopped it smaller, but now that she looked at it, it was as long as half her finger. Couldn’t she still eat it in one bite though?

Staring long and hard at the carrot piece, she pondered.

It did seem a little too long to fit comfortably into her mouth without bulging her cheeks.  “Hm… I see. I suppose I should start paying attention to these finer details.”

“Cutting it small will also allow it to cook faster. Bigger pieces will take longer, and also have a chance of cooking unevenly,” Marie explained patiently. When Alisha stared at her blankly, she began to waved her hands. “Oh! I mean, do not worry so much in the beginning, Milady. These things take practice.” Marie sighed, shaking her head. “I remember when I first started to learn how to cook, I couldn’t even boil water!”

“Um.” Alisha wasn’t sure how to feel. Really, she was sure that she herself was worse.

“But I kept at it, no matter how many pots I burned.” Marie looked up at Alisha with a smile. “Now I handle breakfast for Milady!”

“Yes, and you make such wonderful food,” Alisha said, returning her maid’s smile with one of her own. And it was no mere exaggeration Alisha spoke with. She always made sure to be kind to her maids, but the breakfast she ate everyday was always so delicious. The meals made starting her day that much easier and more enjoyable.

“It brings me great pleasure to see you enjoy my cooking so,” Marie said with a slight giggle. “So that’s why I want to help you with this. There’s a certain pleasure you can only find by cooking for the one you love, and watching them enjoy your labor.”

Alisha nodded, slightly emotional as she listened to her maid. “Thank you so much, Marie. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

“It is the highest honor for me,” Marie said, solemn, but before Alisha could comment on it, she turned back to the counter. “Well, we’ll not get anywhere by standing here and talking! Milady’s time is already dwindling, and I’ll not let her efforts go to waste! The other maids would beat me senseless if that were to happen!”

“ _Um—_ ”

“Now, where were we?”

So Alisha continued her toil. For few days, she woke early in the morning and no matter how terrible the sting of the cold morning air was against her skin, she would always be ready in the kitchen. She hadn’t seen Rose in so long, and she wanted to make something special out of it. Even if Rose were to tease her for putting in so much effort, Alisha knew that deep down, Rose secretly delighted in odd romantic gestures. Though Alisha tired during the day from waking up so early in the morning, when she thought about how surprised Rose would look, it gave Alisha drive and motivation, to push herself. Alisha wanted so dearly to make this reunion Special™.  

After five days, Alisha finally got a respite.

A diplomat from Rolance was to come that day but they’d gotten a courier instead, announcing that the diplomat had caught a nasty bug on the way to Hyland and would be out for several weeks to recover. Alisha’s whole day had been set aside to meet with the diplomat, and suddenly she found her schedule… free.

Of course, not _free_ in the sense she could run off and have a trip in, say, Marlind, her busywork meaning that there were still so many other things she could do in the meanwhile. But Alisha, feeling the invisible deadline of Rose’s return creeping in on her, decided to opt for returning to her mansion for that day (but not without a stack of paperwork she could work on while at the mansion. Even she couldn’t afford _all_ of her day off.)

It was strange to come back to her manor while the sun was still high in the sky. Alisha allowed herself to enjoy the quiet walk back to her manor. Once she was back inside her home though, she set off at a brisk pace for the kitchen. No time to waste, not with her days so numbered.

There wasn’t anyone inside the kitchen right now. Alisha would have liked to search for Marie, but she had bothered her poor maid for so long already. She deserved a rest from watching Alisha blunder through all the things that were supposed to be easy.

Alisha took a moment to pause, raising a hand to her chin as she thought to herself. “Now… what could be something I can make by myself that’s simple and easy…”

The answer came to her in an instant.

“Stew!”

It was simple. She had seen it made so many times, and Marie liked to tell her that making stew was her favorite because all she had to do was throw in a bunch of ingredients and let it simmer for a long time to get all the flavors. It was something that sounded easy for Alisha to do.

“Now… ingredients?” Alisha looked around the kitchen but also thought to herself. The stews she’d been served… what were some ingredients in them? She remembered some of them had potato, carrot, celery, beans sometimes, and meat. Now that she thought about it, she’d been served all sorts of ingredients in those wonderful stews.

Did that mean she could use any ingredient and it’d work?

How amazing, the versatility of stew!

Alisha grinned to herself as she walked off to the shelf that held all the groceries the maid had gotten for that day. These would be used later to make dinner, so Alisha could only take a small amount.

“Unless… I try to cook dinner for everyone too? They’ll all be so pleased!”

In hindsight, Alisha should have known she was in over her head, but the thought of being able to give her maids a break and also pay them back, even if only a little, for all the hard work they’d done for her, overrode her sensible side.

“Shouldn’t be too hard, right?” Alisha asked herself before nodding firmly, her heart set on what she was going to do.

She, Knight Princess of Hyland, heir to the Diphda family, Squire to Shepherd of the land, was going to Cook.

If only Alisha had known that enthusiasm, no matter how much an abundance she had, was no proper substitute for the most important ingredient of all: experience.

And, well, maybe knowledge.

Hours later, Alisha stared at the pot in front of her with a mix of both forlorn and confusion. The stew was bubbling slightly, and it was such an odd dark color that Alisha wasn’t even sure what to make of it. The stew itself was an odd color of _purple._ Alisha still couldn’t figure how she managed that. She’d just added potatoes, carrots, onions, and some herbs she thought she’d seen the maids use sometime, how did that happen?

Never mind that odd blue vial she’d found in one of the cupboards that she was _sure_ was some kind of seasoning for food. Why _else_ would something like that be in the kitchen?

“Maybe… it needs some celery,” Alisha mumbled, reaching over to grab where the basket of vegetables inside. She took out all the celery, quirking an eyebrow at it.

So engrossed in her cooking that Alisha missed the slight creak of the kitchen door opening.

Instead, Alisha carefully inspected through each stalk of celery, frowning to herself. “Oh! I’m supposed to wash these first, yes?” Alisha turned around to the sink to do just that. Gingerly, she rinsed through all the stalks of celery, making sure they were all clean and not one speck of dirt remained. Once she was satisfied, she turned back to the counter behind her, to where the chopping board was.

The chopping board was a poor victim of Alisha’s strength. Where there’d been only small cuts into the wood of the block, there were large gashes scarred into it. With no supervision, she _might_ have gotten a little bit carried away chopping the vegetables. Alisha would have to buy a new one, hopefully at night so they wouldn’t be inconvenienced in the morning.

With a small sigh, Alisha placed the celery on the chopping board, picked up the knife.

Arms abruptly wrapped around her, and Alisha felt a presence at her back—

Alisha screamed and dropped the knife. In the very next second, she grabbed the celery and whirled around, smacking whoever was behind her with the entire vegetable.

“Ow! What the hell—” There was a thud.

Alisha blinked, coming back to her senses, and shot her eyes downward.

Rose was clutching her face and groaning, glaring at Alisha’s shoes. “Alisha,” she said in a weak voice but every bit accusing, “you should _really_ watch your strength a bit!”

“Oh!” Alisha put the celery back on the counter before crouching down and gathering Rose into her arms. “Rose! Are you okay? I’m so sorry!” She shook her head with a small sigh. “You know how I react when I get startled.”

“Yeah, well.” Rose squinted at her, like she was trying to focus on Alisha, before rapidly blinking. “Who would’ve thought you’d hit me with celery instead of stabbing me with the knife.”

Alisha narrowed her eyes, frowning. “… did you _want_ to be stabbed instead?”

“That’s just a normal day then.” And before Alisha could even ask what Rose meant by _that_ , Rose raised herself up and pushed her forehead against Alisha’s, wrapping her arms around Alisha’s shoulders. “Well? How you’ve been?”

Instantly, Alisha felt herself relaxing, smiling softly. “Busy,” she answered. “But this is hardly the time and place to catch up, don’t you think so?”

“You sure? No one’s around right now.” Rose trailed her hand downward, playing with the hem of Alisha’s blouse. Alisha squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to compose herself, especially when Rose’s fingers slipped underneath to touch bare skin, leaving touches so light they were almost a tickle of the wind.

It really had been far too long since they’d seen each other. And Alisha, craving the familiar warmth and affection of Rose that she missed for so long, felt herself give in.

At least until Rose pulled back, wrinkling her nose. “You cooking something in here?”

Alisha blinked dazedly at her. “Cooking?”

Oh!

“Cooking!” Alisha shot to her feet and Rose yelped as she was knocked to the floor once more. But Alisha could hardly pay attention to her, not when she had a stew to salvage!

… what was she doing again to save her meal? Alisha couldn’t remember, looking down at the celery at the counter.

“Making something?” Rose was peering over her shoulder now, apparently recovered from her second knocking. “ _You?_ ”

Alisha frowned. She could understand Rose’s skepticism, but it still hurt slightly. “I… was trying to cook dinner.”

“Without any of the maids around?” Rose looked all around the kitchen, checking to make sure there weren’t any hidden maids hiding in the corners of the cabinets watching her like a hawk. “They actually let you near an open fire?”

“… what does that mean? What do you think my maids do, Rose?”

But Rose didn’t answer, only leaned forward so she could see inside the pot. Her eyes widened, almost comically huge. “Whoa! Alisha! How did you even manage something like this?!”

“Hm?”

Rose waved her hands, and Alisha understood less of what she was trying to say.

“I mean, uh.” Rose took another look into the pot, seemingly thinking to herself before looking over at Alisha with a smile that felt a little strained. “It looks… good?—good! I think.”

“Oh, no, Rose.” Alisha shook her head. “You don’t have to do that for me. I messed up.”

“Nah, it looks okay!” Rose stuck her head closer to the pot. “I mean, it doesn’t smell bad. Or well, anything, actually.” She narrowed her eyes. “Is that even possible?” she muttered more to herself than Alisha.  

Alisha sighed, pushing away the cutting board and knife. “No, it’s fine, really. I… I messed up. Let me throw it all out, none of this is good.”

“Throw it out?” Rose looked at her, a strange glint in her eyes. “That’s wasting food! As long as it’s edible, you gotta eat it.”

“… _is_ it edible?”

Rose grinned. “Only one way to find out, right?”

Later, Alisha would ask why Rose didn’t agree with her. The stew was a strange color, nothing that looked even delicious. Alisha sure had never seen any meal that was of an odd offshoot purple color that wasn’t on purpose.

“Edna’s terrible with presentation but she makes some good stuff sometimes,” Rose would answer with a shrug. A lot of things would suddenly make sense for Alisha.

As it was right now, though, Alisha’s protests fell on deaf ears as Rose came back with a bowl and a ladle, licking her lips.

“I haven’t eaten anything at all! That’s what I get for traveling all morning,” she said as she scooped the stew into her bowl. Alisha tried not to grimace, realizing her stew was actually thicker than she thought, and it was frankly unsettling to see thick purple… goop being scooped out. But Rose’s words made Alisha blink, remembering Rose’s letter.

“W-wait! You said you’d be back in a week! You… you’re early?”

“That a bad thing?” Rose paused, quirking an eyebrow at Alisha. “Sorry, should I disappear for a few more days and come back when I said I should?”

“N-no! It’s just… I…”

“Nah, I’m kidding,” Rose grinned teasingly at her. “I was just messing with you. I know I said a week but I was actually pretty close. Just wanted to surprise you and see how you’d take it.”

Alisha stared at Rose, gaping. “O-oh! You… you’ve!” She sputtered before taking a deep breath.

“A-Alisha? What’s wrong?” Rose asked, nervous now. She thought Alisha would’ve been happy to see her come back earlier than expected. Had something changed in Alisha? Four months was an _awfully_ long time.

Alisha glanced over at Rose before looking downward and sighing. “I wanted to try to make a meal for us when you came back. That’s why I was trying to practice, today. But you came back earlier than I expected and…” She gestured over to the pot with a grimace. “Came to… _that.”_

She sighed again, shaking her head. Talking to politicians, fighting hellions, dealing with rowdy citizens, all of that seemed easier than _cooking,_ she was beginning to think. Disappointment welled up inside of her, and Alisha could feel the tears prickling at the corner of her eyes. Oh no. She didn’t want this to happen. Not in front of Rose. She’d shown Rose too many of her tears already but this was one time she _didn’t_ want to do so.

“Oh, Alisha…” Rose wrapped an arm around her and pushed their heads together. “What am I supposed to say when you go and do cute shi—er, cute stuff, like this, for me?” She pressed a kiss to Alisha’s cheek and began to rub her back. “It’s the thought that counts, right?”

“But still…” Alisha knew Rose was trying to comfort her, but she still felt terrible. It was her first time trying to cook by herself, yes, but being able to at least make _something_ that looked nice and… edible, was something that could have bolstered her spirits and motivated her to practice. She wasn’t going to stop, but this had slightly hampered things.

Rose moved away, and Alisha almost mourned the lack of contact. It was far too long since they’d seen each other, and Alisha definitely did not want their reunion to end up like this. She watched as Rose moved back to the bowl of stew, and began to scoop up a spoonful.

Alarm bells rang off in Alisha’s mind as she lunged forward. Nice thoughts or not, Alisha _knew_ that Rose eating that stew was a one-way ticket to disaster.

“Rose, wait, don’t—”

Rose put the spoon in her mouth. She chewed a few times, and Alisha watched as she swallowed, and then looked back down at the stew. Her lips were pushed together, her brow furrowed. She had said nothing and the longer she stood there, the more Alisha worried. Finally, she could take it no more.

“Are… are you okay?” Alisha asked, holding her hands in the air, ready to grab Rose if she collapsed. Rose looked over at her, tilting her head from side to side.

“Uh. I think?” Rose crossed her arms. “That wasn’t bad, I think. It just needs a little…” Rose waved her hands as she struggled her an explanation.

Then it hit.

Rose widened her eyes, face extraordinarily pale, and before Alisha could even blink, she shot out the door. Alisha stood by herself in the now empty kitchen, blinking at the spot where Rose once stood. She looked over at the door, wide open from Rose’s haste, and then back over at her stew.

“… adjusting,” Alisha finished for her.


End file.
